Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for a Confederate monument in Florida to be replaced with a statue of Snooty, the world's oldest known manatee who died over the weekend.

Snooty, 69, was beloved in the town of Bradenton, and local resident Anthony Pusateri believes the manatee would be a "more positive" symbol than the Confederate monument located outside the Manatee County Historic Courthouse.

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"Snooty the Manatee has been a symbol of Bradenton, FL for almost 70 years," the Change.org petition reads in part. "Subsequently, there is a Confederate memorial statue that stands directly in front of the old courthouse just blocks away from the aquarium where Snooty resided. To honor Snooty's legacy as a positive icon in Bradenton, I propose that the negative symbol of racism and oppression that is the Confederate monument be relocated and replaced with a statue of Snooty the Manatee."

Pusateri suggests that the monument be moved to a museum, where it would be "out of everyday public eye."

Snooty died on Sunday, July 23 when he somehow gained access to a 30-by-30 inch tube and was not able to turn around.

The South Florida Museum said Snooty was born in 1948 at the Miami Aquarium and Tackle Company, calling it the first recorded birth of a manatee in human care. He moved to Bradenton in 1949, greeting more than a million visitors in his lifetime. Fans left heartfelt messages Sunday on a Facebook page dedicated to Snooty.

"Snooty was such a unique animal and he had so much personality that people couldn't help but be drawn to him," said Brynne Anne Besio, the museum's CEO.